Day: June 24, 2013

Karen Ristuben writes-

On behalf of the Rocky Neck Art Colony, I am thrilled to announce that we have received word from the Massachusetts Cultural Council that the Art Colony will receive a significant grant of $154,006 to apply toward the purchase of the Cultural Center building. This state grant comes on the heels of the City of Gloucester’s award of $74,000 in Cultural Development Block Grant funding to make the building handicapped accessible. We are immensely grateful for such generous state and city support! Together these gifts reflect substantial progress toward building equity in a thriving and sustainable cultural center.
Combining these two grants with private donations, the Art Colony has now raised $390,000 toward a campaign goal of $700,000.  To reach this goal, we need to raise an additional $310,000. Our remaining needs are to:
• Retire our mortgage of $100,000.
• Raise an additional $126,000 for renovations and handicapped access
• Add $86,000 in operational and capital reserves
We have also applied for $50,000 in Community Preservation Act funding toward renovations and handicapped access. The Art Colony is now strongly positioned to launch the next phase of our capital campaign – Closing the Gap!
We are absolutely delighted that the community has used the Center so robustly for a host of artistic, cultural and community events, and we anticipate even more exciting uses of the building in the future. Immense thanks are due to our generous donors and to the many people who have worked tirelessly to create the Center.  With your continued help and support, we believe that the Center will flourish as a respected New England cultural institution and contribute to the revitalization of Gloucester and Rocky Neck. Your participation counts.
Sincerely yours,
Karen Ristuben, President

We’ve come a long way from the initial idea Karen spoke about in this video on September 11, 2011